


A Little Spice

by Ellohcee



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Comfort, Dating, F/M, Fluff, Marichat, pre-reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-29
Updated: 2018-05-29
Packaged: 2019-05-15 05:24:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14784341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellohcee/pseuds/Ellohcee
Summary: Another long day, and Marinette receives a visit from her favorite kitty on her coffee break.





	A Little Spice

**Author's Note:**

> Writing Prompt #10 - Drink
> 
> This work can also be found on my tumblr [here](https://ellohcee.tumblr.com/post/174216759388/a-little-spice-50-prompts-10-drink-miraculous)

It was a day of long days, a pull you out of bed at 2 am for an Akuma fight then grab a few toss-and-turn hours of sleep before school kind of day. Which was why Marinette was indulging in a rare late-in-the-day coffee and a plate of cookies. She walked over to her desk with items in hand and set them down, before falling into her computer chair with a sigh. What a day, she felt like she could fall asleep sitting up, which prompted her to start on the coffee. It was the perfect temperature, wonderfully hot without any danger of burning her mouth. She picked up a cookie and dipped it into the liquid, letting it soak for a moment before taking a bite, letting out a sigh of bliss.

It was almost as if his cookie radar had gone off, as a tap-tap-tapping at her skylight caught Marinette’s attention less than two minutes after sitting down. She sighed, giving Tikki a sidelong glance. The Kwami accepted her offered apology-cookie before flying away to hide, giggling all the way. The rest of the cookies were soon to follow, she thought sadly, as she set the coffee down and stood from her seat. She climbed a few steps up the ladder until she was visible, smiling at the way his face lit up upon seeing her. Marinette waved him down, returning to her seat as the visitor made his way down to the floor.

“Good afternoon Princess, you look  _paw_ sitively radiant today,” Chat crooned as his feet touch the floor.

“Oh shut up, I look like crap,” Marinette returned with a sigh, picking up her coffee and taking a sip.

“Long night?” Chat asked sympathetically, feeling for her dilemma even though he didn’t know the extent.

“Yeah, you could say that,” she mumbled, feeling her eyelids droop and her body wanting to drop off to sleep again.

“Something smells… really good,” the hero suddenly said curiously, and when Marinette opened her eyes she almost sloshed coffee over them both, to find Chat right up in her face peering into the cup.

“Cheese and crackers, please don’t do that,” Marinette said raggedly, her heart still beating hard against her ribs from the start. “It’s coffee, Chat, nothing special.”

“It smells different, let me try some?” he asked eagerly, looking at her with those big kitten eyes.

Marinette groaned, holding the cup out. “Please don’t backwash.”

Chat sniffed in disdain, his belt tail lashing behind him once. “Prin _cess_ , I’m a gentleman, I don’t backwash,” he said haughtily.

Nose wrinkling cutely, Marinette looked unimpressed. “Yeah, I don’t think gentleman ask to drink from someone else’s beverage, either,” she said blandly, one eyebrow raising at him in challenge.

“Fine, that point goes to you on a technicality,” the blonde huffed, before taking a careful drink of the coffee. Marinette watched him, trying to hide the little bit of eagerness that had been growing since he held the mug. It started to pay off, as the wheels visibly turned in his head, eyes crossing to look down at the liquid. He was silent for a long moment, perplexed, a little baffled, and a very cat-like look of offense on his face. “Why is this coffee hot?” he asked slowly.

Marinette couldn’t help the smug smile on her face, resting her chin on the heel of one palm and trying to sound innocent. “Why, Chat, it’s coffee, it’s usually hot,” she said slowly, savoring the annoyed look that twisted his face.

“Even though you know  _exactly_ what I’m asking, I’ll rephrase for the benefit of my sanity.  _Why_ , my dear, sweet Princess, is this coffee  _spicy?_ ” he emphasized, painfully slow, that offended look still on his face.

Marinette really tried to hide her snort of laughter, but it escaped despite her best efforts, making him even more annoyed. He was the spitting image of a grumpy cat, ears back in defiance and looking like the world had wronged him. “It’s brewed with some chili powder and cinnamon,” she explained in amusement, outright laughing at the bewildered turn of his face.

“ _Why?_ ” he asked desperately, unable to comprehend why someone would want spicy coffee?? And he was still holding the mug, not yet finding the function to set it down or hand it back to her because it was so weird. So weird?

“It gives it a nice kick,” Marinette explained, holding her hand out for the drink he’d rejected, yet still clutched in his hands like a lifeline. “Give.”

“Wait,” Chat replied, a little frantically. Desperate to understand, he took another cautious sip, but it was just as strange as the first one. It wasn’t right. “No,” he said defiantly, holding the mug out to her finally. “It’s weird.”

Marinette laughed at his dramatics, finding his angry kitten pout too adorable. “That’s funny, I don’t remember inviting you over to drink my coffee and then insult it.”

“It’s weird!” Chat burst out indignantly.

“So I’ve heard,” the girl sighed, the burst of energy starting to wear off, but the amusement still held fast. He could be so… easygoing about being in mortal danger, but here he was so riled up over a cup of coffee and heaven help her if it wasn’t just the silliest thing. “If you promise to leave me at least one cookie while I’m gone, and I make you a normal cup of coffee, will you get over this life crisis you’re having?”

Chat pouted, it was  _not_ a life crisis, spiced coffee was weird, but he was also very tired and a cup of  _normal-not-spicy-coffee_ with his Princess sounded really nice. And maybe he could leave more than one cookie. “Yes,” he finally said sternly, looking at her with defiance.

Marinette let out an amused puff of air, standing up with a shake of her head. “I’ll be back in a couple minutes,” she promised.

Chat immediately occupied her chair as she walked down the stairs from her room, and Marinette let loose the yawn she’d been holding back as she went. Things were getting tough these days. It seemed like as they got older the intensity of these Akumas slowly increased, as Hawkmoth learned their patterns and tactics and started to accommodate. He was giving the two a better run for their money and it was taking a toll.

Chat didn’t know why she was so tired, but she could tell he was exhausted too from their early morning battle. It was days like this why she’d started drinking coffee.

These thoughts occupied her while she brewed a new batch, the comforting smell of fresh coffee relaxing her as she leaned against the counter. She listened to the sound of the bakery winding down, as her parents cleaned up and prepped for the next day, chatting and laughing with each other as they worked.

Once the coffee finished, Marinette poured some into a mug before adding some sweet cream, as she’d found he liked after a couple of their impromptu coffee dates. Marinette herself had not yet acquired the taste for black coffee, and Chat had a bigger sweet tooth than her so she made it a decent portion. She cleaned up the supplies from the coffee and prepared a plate of extra cookies, then grabbed the mug to head back upstairs.

When Marinette’s head popped through the trap door, her face turned into a look of amusement. “Chat Noir!” she scolded, just as he noticed her and tried desperately to pretend he hadn’t just been drinking out of the coffee she’d left on the desk. “You bad cat,” she added, closing the door with her foot and walking over to the guilty party as he tried to look innocent.

As soon as she’d safely set down the fresh coffee and cookies, his arms circled around her and crushed her into a hug, minimizing the potential punishment by limiting her range of movement. “That’s not going to save you, kitty,” she warned.

“No I’m sorry I didn’t do anything,” he said sweetly, hiding his face against her and kicking up a purr to add to the bit.

“You are impossible,” she sighed.

“But you love me anyway,” Chat crooned in a cheeky voice, snuggling further into her and glancing up from his hiding spot with kitten eyes.

“If I must,” Marinette relented, earning a mildly insulted sound from him, only to melt when she ran a gentle hand through his hair. “So let’s settle this. Do you or do you not like the coffee?”

Chat’s belt tail lashed behind him briefly, as if in thought, before he gave in. “It’s growing on me.”

Marinette snickered, leaning down to place a kiss on his head and earning a pleased sound from him. “Alright, we’ll compromise, but you have to let me go first.”

He made a sad little whine, but complied and released her from his hold. Marinette took the two coffee cups, deftly pouring some from the fresh cup into the spiced one, and vice versa, never spilling a drop as Chat watched in awe. If he ever tried to pour something out of a cup like that it just ran down the outside and dribbled everywhere.

After a few pours, the level in each cup was even and they were a less spiced version than her original cup. “Take the cookies and go sit,” she said, nodding her head towards the chaise. Chat complied, merging the two plates of cookies- the original he’d only taken three from, he thought proudly- and took a seat on the chaise. Marinette followed and sat next to him, sitting at an angle so she could rest her legs over his. She handed him a cup, the plate of cookies sitting between them on her legs, and leaned against him with a sigh.

“Don’t fall asleep Princess,” he warned gently, smiling down at her.

“I won’t,” she replied, angling her head up to place a kiss on his cheek. “That’s what the coffee is for, Minou.”

Chat let out a content puff of air, happy to be close to his Princess and enjoy some time with her. They drank coffee, snacked on cookies, and talked late into the evening. It was a rare moment of peace for both of them, to just simply be together and enjoy themselves. Chat eventually made the decision that spiced coffee was not so weird, still kind of weird, but he was learning to love it, especially when he stole a kiss and could taste the cinnamon on her lips.


End file.
